It got even bigger Thursday when Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, and Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions, announced that a super lightweight title fight between champion Danny Garcia of Philadelphia and Lucas Matthysse of Argentina has been added as the main support bout.

Since Garcia-Matthysse is a fight that could have stood on its own as a main event on a different night, this appears to be a terrific move by the two promoters.

“We did not have to add this fight,” Schaefer said. “Tickets are already sold out, records are being broken. And yet we added this fight to this amazing night of boxing. We believe consumers deserve these kinds of cards.”

Matthysse, 30, is 34-2 with 32 knockouts and is one of the hardest punchers in the game, pound-for-pound. Garcia, 25, is 26-0 with 16 knockouts.

With the way Lucas Matthysse took care of Lamont Peterson – decking him three times and stopping him in the third round Saturday at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City – there figured to be a call for Matthysse now to fight Golden Boy Promotions stablemate Danny Garcia.

Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy, said Tuesday he absolutely wants to make that fight. Garcia (26-0, 16 KOs), of Philadelphia, holds two of the four major belts at 140 pounds. Matthysse, of Argentina, has an interim title. But the belts almost don’t matter here. With the explosive power of Matthysse (34-2, 32 KOs) and the dynamite combination of talent and courage of Garcia, it’s almost a can’t-miss hit.

“It is obviously the two best 140-pounders fighting each other,” Schaefer said. “For many reasons, many people think that Matthysse would win. And there are many reasons why some people think Garcia would win.”

Which makes any fight more intriguing, when it’s difficult to predict the winner.

Lucas Matthysse of Argentina is rapidly becoming known as one of the hardest hitters in boxing, pound-for-pound. He again showed that this past Saturday when he decked Lamont Peterson three times and stopped him in the third round of their bout at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

It caused Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, to proclaim to reporters afterward, “We have a new Manny Pacquiao. He’s from Argentina and his name is Lucas Matthysse.” Matthysse is promoted by Golden Boy.

Matthysse, 30, holds an interim junior welterweight title. He is 34-2 with 32 knockouts. You can catch the replay of Saturday’s bout Tuesday at 9 p.m. on Showtime Extreme.

Heavy-handed Lucas Matthysse of Argentina once again showed he is perhaps the hardest puncher in boxing, pound-for-pound.

Matthysse on Saturday night at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City stopped Lamont Peterson of Washington D.C. in the third round of their scheduled 12-round junior welterweight fight; actually, the bout was fought at one pound over the 140-pound limit.

Matthysse (34-2, 32 KOs) decked Peterson (31-2-1) once in the second round and twice in the third, the bout being stopped at 2:14.

In the semi-main event, Devon Alexander (25-1, 14 KOs) of St. Louis stopped Lee Purdy of England after the seventh round, when Purdy’s corner would not let him answer the bell for the eighth. It was originally supposed to be a fight for Alexander’s welterweight title, but Purdy (20-4-1) did not make weight Friday, so Alexander’s belt was not on the table.

Lucas Matthysse’s reputation as a hard-hitting fighter is well-earned – he is 33-2 with 31 knockouts. That’s a knockout ratio of 86 percent.

Lamont Peterson knows all about Matthysse, so he realizes that when he squares off with him next Saturday at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City (on Showtime), he’ll be in the fire.

“I’m not worried about Matthysse,” said Peterson, of Washington D.C. “I’ve known him for a while. He’s a strong guy. He’s going to bring it all night, pretty much the way I like it to be, and it’s going to be a great fight.

“Everyone keeps asking me about his punching power. I know what I signed up for. I realize I’m going to get hit in the face. But I will be hitting him back.”

Peterson, 29, is 31-1-1 with 16 knockouts. Matthysse is 30.

The card is being staged by Golden Boy Promotions. The co-feature will see Devon Alexander (24-1, 13 KOs) of St. Louis defending his welterweight belt against Lee Purdy (20-3-1, 13 KOs) of England.

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